Partition stud and spring assembly



July 25, 1967 E. H. MARK PARTITION STUD AND SPRING ASSEMBLY Filed Dec.

EDWARD H. MARK United States Patent 3,332,182 PARTITION STUD AND SPRINGASSEMBLY Edward H. Mark, South Bend, Ind., assignor to InterstateIndustries Inc., Michigan City, Ind., a corporation of Illinois FiledDec. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 415,721 1 Claim. (Cl. 52 127) This inventionrelates to portable partition components and more particularly to animproved coupling means for partitions having wooden frames.

Portable partitions including panels releasably connected to supportingposts are usually provided with spring biased connector means for urgingthe panels and posts into firm engagement so as to avoid rattling andthe like. With the use of metal panels and tubular metal posts, thecoupling means may comprise a spring biased stud mounted Within the edgeportion of the panel and cooperative with a keyhole'slot in a wall ofthe post. This arrangement, however, does not readily lend itself foruse with wooden panels including wooden frames, and as a result entirelydifferent types of connectors are usually employed with wood panels.Frequently, studs are rigidly mounted on the posts and extend into thewood panel for engagement with a spring biased retainer Within the coreof the panel. Thisresults in lack of conformity between the metal andthe Wood structures so that they cannot be employed together. It alsorequires duplication of the coupling structures and of the types ofposts and panels.

Having in mind the defects of the prior art apparatus, it is a primaryobject of the present invention to provide coupling means adapted forWood panel structures but cooperative with the usual metal poststructures so that the wood and metal panels are interchangeable, andduplication of parts is unnecessary.

It is another object of the invention to provide coupling means for woodpanel structures having simplicity of design, economy of constructionand efliciency in operation.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of the inventionare set forth with particularity in the appended claim. The inventionitself, however, both as to its organization and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, Willbest be understood from the following description of a specificembodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawing,wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout theseveral figures and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a panel, embodying a studand spring retainer assembly according to the invention in a positionadjacent a post of a partition to which the panel is to be coupled;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view through a portion of the post and panel withthe panel illustrated as positioned just prior to and ready to becoupled to the post; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional detail similar to FIG. 2 but showing the panelcompletely coupled to the post.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, FIG. 1 illustrates apair of panels adapted to be assembled in alignment to form an elongatedpartition by fastening to an intermediate post 20. The panels 10 eachcomprise a core portion 12, which may have outer plywood veneersurfaces, enclosed in a peripheral wooden frame 14 carrying stud andspring retainer assemblies 30 according to the invention. One such panel10 is shown already fastened to one side of the post 20 and the secondpanel 10 is positioned in readiness to be fastened to the opposite sideof the post so as to prolong the partition by insertion of protrudingportions of the retainer assemblies 30 in the keyhole slots 22 of thepost 20.

The panel peripheral wood frame 14 is provided with a bore 16 to receiveeach stud and spring retainer assembly 30. The bores 16 may be drilledinwardly from the outer edge face 18 of the panel frame 14 and, ifdesired, they may be tapped to form threads. Other methods of formingthe apertures are of course usable. Each stud and spring retainerassembly comprises a sleeve 32 threaded on its exterior to enableself-tapping into its bore 16. If the bore is pretapped the threadsshould mate with the threads on the sleeve 32.

Preferably, the sleeve 32 is formed of a plastic material although othermaterials may be used under certain circumstances. Suitable plastics formolding sleeves 40, with the threads integrally formed during themolding process, are sold under the trade names Delrin or Zytel, thelast being a nylon resin molding powder or nylon soluble resincompounded by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Del.Such nylon resin plastics are moldable to provide high strength andtoughness and are resistant to chemicals, solvents corrosion, etc. Inaddition the molded product is slightly resilient.

The sleeve 32 has an internal shoulder 34 at its outer end and defininga bore 36 within which a stud 38 is slidably mounted. The stud 38 has ahead 40 at its outer end and a fixed collar 42 surrounding its shank 44adjacent the head 40, and the inner end portion 46 of the shank isthreaded for cooperation with a nut 48. The

- interior 50 of the sleeve 32 is of greater dimension than the bore 36to accommodate a compression spring 52 which surrounds the stud shank 44between the inner side of the shoulder 34 and the nut 48.

The outer end portion 54 of the sleeve interior 50 preferably is shapedto conform with and slidably receive the nut 48 to prevent turning ofthe nut, and the stud head 40 is provided with a screw driver slot 56,or the like, so that compression of the spring 52 between the nut andinternal shoulder may be adjusted by turning the stud 38. The innersurface 58 of the stud head preferably is frusto-conical inconfiguration. The sleeve 32 is provided in its outer end with toolengaging means such as recesses 60 to enable threading the sleeve into abore 16.

The retainer assemblies 30 are preassembled by inserting the shank 44 ofa stud 38 through the bore 36 from the front of the sleeve 32, mountinga spring 52 over the shank Within the interior 50, and threading a nut48 on the shank threads 46 until it reaches the inner end of the sleevewhereupon the nut is mated with the interior portion 54 and the studrotated a couple of turns to draw the nut into he interior 54.Obviously, Washers may be mounted on the stud at each end of the spring.

When a stud, sleeve, spring and nut have been assembled as describedabove, the assembly is secured in a bore 16 of a panel frame 14 byturning the sleeve, preferably with a tool having prongs which fit intothe recesses 60. The sleeve is turned to the point where the assembly ispositioned, as shown in FIG. 2, with the stud head 40 protruding beyondthe outer connecting face 18 of the panel frame 14.

The securing posts 20 for a partition may be of any suitable shape, asfor example, square in cross section as illustrated, and of a dimensionequal to the panel thickness so that when panels are fastened to theposts the resulting partition has an uninterrupted surface. Each post isprovided with key hole shaped slots 22 suitably spaced in the faces towhich the panels are to be fastened so as to register with the stud andspring assemblies 30. For a partition such as that shown, the key holeslots 22 are pierced in opposite face walls of thepost 20. It will bereadily understood, however, that if a pair of panels 10 for example areto be fastened to a corner post to form corner walls of an enclosure,key hole apertures would be provided in adjacent rather than oppositewalls of the supporting post.

Each key hole 22 is formed with a circular or other shaped opening 24large enough to receive a stud head 40 and to pass the head axiallycompletely through the opening into the interior of the post. A narrowslot 26 communicates with the large opening 24 for passage of the studshank 44 directly adjacent the head 40 when the panel and stud are movedin a direction perpendicular to the stud axis and in the plane of thepanel. The inner conical surface 58 of the stud head engages the inneredges of the slot 26, as shown in FIG. 3, and draws the stud 38 slightlyfrom the panel face 18 against the compression of the spring 52 so thatthe abutting panel and post faces are retained in firm engagement.

It will be readily apparent from the above description that to assemblea partition to the post 20, it is merely necessary to place thepartition next to the post as shown in FIG. 2. The partition is thenmoved endwise to pass the stud head 40 axially through the opening 24 ofthe adjacent keyhole 22. When the stud head has passed into the post 20,the partition is moved downwardly to pass the stud 38 into the narrowslot 26 forming the lower part of the keyhole. This movement will engagethe conical face 58 against the inner face of the post wall and wedgethe stud outward, i.e. inwardly of the post, compressing the spring 52further so that the panel and post are firmly secured together under thespring pressure.

This firm clamping is maintained tight at all times by the compressionof the spring 52, yet slight relative movements of the panel withrespect to the post are accommodated, the stud head conical surface 58merely riding up, down and even slightly laterally with respect to theretaining inner face of the key hole slot portion 26. To separate thepanel from the supporting post or partition, it is merely necessary tolift the panel in its own plane to raise the studs 38 out of the keyholenarrow slots 26 and align the stud heads 40 with the enlarged openings24. The panel is moved in its own plane away from the post to withdrawthe stud head axially from the keyhole circular opening 24.

It is apparent that the stud spring retainer assembly, as described,provides a strong resilient clamping action which accommodates relativemovements of the panel and post against the opposition of the springwhile preventing rattle or noise as would occur with rigid, fixed metalparts. The clamping action is also strong, silent and firm due to thestrength and sound absorption qualities of the plastic sleeve 32 and thetough bond provided between the plastic sleeve and the wood frame 14 ofthe panel. The compression spring 52 constantly urges the stud inwardly,preventing rattle by taking up any play between the stud and the keyholeof the supporting post, such play arising from relative movementsbetween the panel and the post which may be engendered by blows, bytemperature and humidity changes, and similar conditions, or factors.

It will be apparent that the position of the stud head 40 relative tothe outer end of the sleeve 32 is fixed by the collar 42 and remainsconstant regardless of the compression of the spring 52. On the otherhand, the compression of the spring 52 may readily be adjusted merely byturning the stud '38 by means of its driver slot 56. The position of thestud head 40 relative to the panel face 18 is readly adjusted bythreading the sleeve 32 by means of the tool recesses 60. Consequently,even after the assembly 30 is mounted in a bore 16 the location of thestud head 40 and compression of the spring 52 readily may be adjusted inaccordance with the wall thickness or other variations in the post 20.

While the description of a preferred embodiment has emphasized theadvantages of utilizing a plastic sleeve threaded into an aperture of awooden frame on a panel, it is obvious that the materials of the panel,the stud, the sleeve and the spring may be changed to suit conditionswithout departing from the inventive concept of providing a simplecoupling medium which has long life and is easy to use, renders theelements quickly clamped together and in a firm, strong, noise-freemanner and which also provides resiliency to permit noise-free relativemovement between the coupled elements during the time they remainfastened.

Although a certain specific embodiment of the invention has been shownand described, it is obvious that many modifications thereof arepossible. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted exceptinsofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of theappended claim.

What is claimed is:

The combination, with a post of substantially hollow construction havinga wall with a plurality of keyhole slots therein, and a partition with asolid wooden frame having an edge face disposed adjacent the wall, theframe having a plurality of bores formed therein opening on the edgeface, of means for removably aflixing the partition to the post, themeans comprising:

a sleeve threadedly engaged within each of the bores of the frame, thesleeves having interior shoulders;

the shoulders having bores therein and having inner and outer sides, andthe outer sides having tool engagement slots therein;

a stud for each sleeve, the studs having a head and a shank and beinginserted in the sleeves with the head positioned outwardly of the frameedge face for entry in the respective keyhole slots of the post;

said heads being engaged in the slots of the post;

the shanks extending through the bores of the shoulders and havingthreaded inner ends;

collars on the studs spaced from said heads and seated against the outersides of the shoulders;

a nut threaded on the inner end of each of the shanks;

the sleeve having an interior and an enlarged interior portion shaped toengage the nut and to restrict rotation thereof and of a length topermit axial sliding movement of the nut;

a compression spring within the interior of the sleeve about the shank,seated at one end on the inner side of the shoulder and at the other endon the nut; and

the stud having an outer face with a tool engagement recess means formedtherein whereby the stud is rotatable, the nut being restricted againstrotation relative to the sleeve during rotation of the stud by itsengagement with the interior portion but being slidable in the interiorportion during engagement of the head in the keyhole slot.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 314,076 3/ 1885 Staunton 52--7052,102,086 12/ 1937 Mueller 287--20.92 2,915,151 12/1959 Kekenak 524953,084,482 4/ 1963 Rennie 52-242 3,233,645 2/1966 Neuschotz 151-41.73

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,001,846 1951 France. 1,227,745 1960 France.

784,302 1957 Great Britain.

470,815 1952 Italy.

301,391 1954 Switzerland.

OTHER REFERENCES Marnay-Rockaway Catalog, page 7 relied on. Copy inSweets architectural file, 1962, 22a/ Ma.

JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner.

F. L. ABBOTT, Examiner.

